A war between the two immediately broke out. In 1964, the USA entered the Vietnam War. The inconclusive war in Vietnam cost many American and Vietnamese lives, devastated the country, and achieved nothing but misery for anyone caught up in it; including the Cambodians. Cambodia had become part of the Vietnam battlefield. During the next four years, American B-52 bombers, using napalm and cluster-bombs, killed up to 750,000 Cambodians in their effort to destroy North Vietnamese supply lines.
One government was led by a communist leader, Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to unite the country and help spread communism. His military forces were referred to as the Viet Minh. The second government was led by Ho Chi Minh's democratic rival, Bao Dai. He was placed there by the French, who at the time occupied Vietnam, to help stop communism. Public support was gained by the Viet Minh when they fought off the French.
Many of the cities were occupied by Vietcong for many hours, or days. The US and South Vietnamese showed victory in regaining all the cities back, but they suffered many losses and lost almost all the American public support. The TET Offensive showed the American public the truth of Vietnam, and not what the Military wanted the people to hear. To many, the war was a lost cause, a waste of money and resources. Later, in March of 1968 the My Lai Massacre devastated a town of North Vietnamese citizens.
By 1968, however, over half a million US soldiers and marines were fighting in the jungles of South Vietnam and there had been thousands of US casualties. The Vietnam War turned into a major American defeat and helped change US policy in containing Communism. The United States entered the war to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia. American leaders feared that Communist forces would gain control of Vietnam. After that, nation after nation might fall to Communism.
But United States leaders had other concerns. No sooner had World War II ended, then a "Cold War," between the forces of democracy and communism began (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). Long years of fighting had devastated the democratic nations of Western Europe, which left the communist Soviet Union as the dominant power in Europe and Asia (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). The Soviet Union had already over run most of Eastern Europe; now they seemed determined to spread communism all around the globe (Schomp The Vietnam War 5). To help counter that threat Truman started secretly sending money as well as supplies to help back the French forces against Ho Chi Minh's forces (Schomp The Vietnam War 5).
South Vietnamese communist to consolidate opposition to the Diem regime by forming a broad-based coalition of groups called the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) (“Ngo” 2). “By the summer of 1963, Diem’s grip on power was weakening rapidly” (“Ngo” 2). Diem’s plans to ban the Buddhist flag lead to a crisis that led to the death of civilians, monks, and Ngo Dinh Diem. “Diem’s government took a hard-line approach to all potential political rivals and, in the next seven years, became increasingly oppressive, corrupt, and nepotistic” (“Ngo” 2). Diem’s legacy that he has left for Vietnam may never be achieved or attempted because Vietnam has fallen to communism.
The Paris Peace Accords On January 27, 1973, the peace talks in Paris finally succeeded in producing a cease-fire agreement. The last U.S. troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, knowing they were leaving a weak South Vietnam who would not be able to withstand another major communist North Vietnam attack. Reunification of Vietnam After the U.S. had withdrawn all its troops, the fighting continued in Vietnam. In early 1975, North Vietnam made another big push south which toppled the South Vietnamese government. South Vietnam officially surrendered to communist North Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
Vietnam was under French occupation after the Second World War. Ho Chi Minh led a revolution against the French colonial power in his country. Once France had been expelled in 1954, Vietnam became divided into North and South Vietnam, with Ho controlling the North. Ho was not pleased that two countries would be created instead of just one "Vietnam." Consequently, the solution was simple: Reunification.
(Vietnam-ustrade.org) Soon after, the country plunged into another war against the French attempting to re-colonize, which lasted for another nine years. That war ended in 1954, leaving the country divided at the 17th parallel. The north remained as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, led by the communists, while the south fell under the influence of the West, namely the United States. (Vietnam-ustrade.org) The United States involvement in Vietnam grew in the 1950s and escalated into a full-fledged war in March 1965 when the first U.S. troops landed in Vietnam. Although U.S. troops were completely withdrawn by the end of March 1973 as a result of the Paris Peace Accords, the war continued until the spring of 1975, when the south was liberated.
For over 60 years the Vietnamese lived under the cruel, oppressive rule of the French and were only freed when, during the Second World War the Japanese invaded and drove the French out. However when the war ended, as Japan was on the losing side, the Japanese were also driven out. It was then in the political chaos the Japanese left behind that the communist/socialist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh stepped in. He and his communist/socialist guerrilla army, the Viet Minh, quickly took control of the government and in 1945 he read the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence naming Vietnam an independent and free country.